New Ulm weekly review., 1887-08-24
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This is about il. said John Scott,
the engineer, as the train slowly crest
ed q long gradual grade. ~ ou're2
atop of the Rocky Mountains now.
ma am. Z
Emily Vaughn looked to left and to.
right, and was conscious Of a feeling Of
disappointment She had pictured the
top OF the Rocky Mountains as some
thing quite different from this Here
were no frowning heights or sudden
CULTS, only wide-rolling plateau. some
distant peaks which did not look very
high, and far ahead a glimpse of lower
levels rum ng down into plains It
seemed hardly worth while to have
come so far for so little
s= 'Really!'' she said. But where are
the mountains? They don't look nearly
SO high as they did yesterday! '.#
Naturally, ma am,'' responded the
engineer; things don't appear SO high
when you're as high as they are. We're
atop. you know
But there no look-off, no wonder
full distance, as from the top of Mt.
Washington. confess I am disap-
pointed. = &
'.Its kind Of queer" said John Scott,
with dry chuckle, .how folks from
the East keep allud;ng to that ere
little hill as if it were the standard of
measurement. We don't think so much
OF it this way. Why, ma'am, you're
about 200O feet higher at this minute
than if you was at the top of that little
shuck of a Mt. Washington that they
all think so much Of.
Miss Vaughn smiled, but she expert
enced shock nevertheless. The New
England mind does not easily accus-
tom itself to hearing its sacred noun
tain thus lightly spoken against.
''Have you ever seen Mt. Westinghouse
she asked
"Oh. bless you, yes!.' replied John
Scott. cheerfully. Il was raised over
to Fryeburg, and grew up alongside Of
it. | thought twas pretty big CON
Germ when was boy, but now He
closed the sentence with short, ex-
pressive laugh.
Miss Vaughn changed the subject.
She was not offended. She had grown
to like this rongh, good-natured en-
gineer in the course of the three-d days
Journey. during which, favored as a
relative Of one of the directors of the
road, she had several times been pr1vi-
legged to ride as now, in the engi-
neer's cab for a better view of the
country.
Have you been long on this road?"
she asked.
Pretty near ever since it opened.
| run the third through train that came
out from Chicago, and 1 havn't been
off the line since, Winter or Summer,
except for three months when [ was
laid up with a broken leg. y
This must look very different in
Winter said Miss Vaughn, noting
the treeless distances, and the SHOWS
still glinting on the higher peaks to the
left.
You may believe it does! That first
year, when the snow sheds wasn't
built, it was terrible. I was running
that train that stuck in the snow seven
days, perhaps you'll remember about
it; it was in all the papers. I sha'n't
never forget that, not if live to be as
old as my grandfather, and he didn't
die till he was ninety odd''
Tell me about it., said Miss Vaughn.
persuasively. setting herself on the
high side bench of the cab, with that
air Of attention which is so en-
ticing to the story teller; amusementS
are few and far between in the LONG
monotony Of the overland journey to
California; besides which, Miss Vaughn.
dearly loved a story.
There amt much to tell,'' said
John Scott, with something of the
feeling which prompts the young.
vocalist to complain Of hoarseness. Il
I i1ln I an mana at telling things either
Then, Won by Miss Vaughn's appeal
ing eyes, he continued:
we ran ali fair and on time till we
was about 200 miles beyond Omaha.
Then the snow began. It didn't seem
much at first. The women-folk in the
train rather liked it. They all crowded
to the windows TO see, and the children
hurrahed. Anything seemed pleas
ant change after the sagebrush, l sup
pose. But as Invent on coming, and
the drifts grew deep, and the cars had
to run slow. the older ones began to
look serious, EIu and | can tell you that we
who had charge ofthe train feltso.
Eve was just between two of the.
feeding stations, and we put on all the.
steam we could, hoping to push through